Torn In Pieces
by Miralover
Summary: HaseoxSilabus Silabus gets infected by AIDA and ends up getting tangled in Haseo's problems. How can he cope with these new findings while he is trying to deal with some new feelings for the rogue?
1. Thoughts

Miralover: Yay! My first .Hack Fan Fic. Sorry if I don't get the characters right it has been a while since I have played the games.

Disclaimer: I don't own .Hack//GU.

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The bright blue sky in Dol Dona showered above many players as they made their way through the busy marketplace. A certain blade brandier was left to sigh under a booth as he watched many players pass by. He wore a green vest, with green pants that went down to meet brown boots on his feet. He tapped his hand that had brown glove on it against the counter. The brown belts that adorned his pants and his light green undershirt jingled as he shifted from one foot to the other. His light brown hair that stopped at his shoulders and went into a long ponytail that stopped at his waist swayed a bit as he turned his head to look for more possible customers.

Ever since the news of kids who have been coming up with the epidemic of Doll syndrome, has left the honey brown eyed Silabus nervous. Not nervous for himself, but for Haseo and Gaspard. He wouldn't know what to do if they came down with it. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about this right now since he was supposed to be taking care of the guild shop. Gaspard had trusted him in this small task since it appeared that Gaspard had to go meet another player called Piros the Third or something like that. Being the nice person that he was he happily accepted without much of a thought. Now he wished that he hadn't, but it wasn't in his nature to turn someone down.

He flashed his usual smile as other players walked by. Before he knew it he was greeted by a familiar face, Atoli. The harvest cleric in question looked like she was searching for something or someone.

"Hello, Silabus." She greeted with a little bow. As she stood back up she straightened the end of her green dress and made sure that her white hat was still in place.

"Hello, Atoli. What brings you here?" Silabus asked in wonder.

"O-oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you have seen Haseo by any chance?" She asked as a glimmer of hope gleamed in her eyes as she gave him a warm smile.

Silabus looked away in thought. He hadn't seen Haseo in quite some time now. It always seemed like he was busy doing other things now. He had always wondered what the silver-haired boy was up to now. After Haseo joined in the tournament without him, he had felt a bit envious of Atoli and Alkaid. He knew that he had been overreacting though, and quickly brushed the thought aside.

"S-silabus? Are you okay?" Atoli questioned him as she peered closer to his face.

"Oh! Sorry about that. I haven't seen Haseo in quite sometime now. I guess I got caught up in my thoughts." He replied sheepishly as he backed a bit away from Atoli.

"I see. Well, if you see him could you tell him that I was looking for him?" she asked was she tilted her head in a cute manner.

"Sure. I'll let him know if I happen to run into him." Silabus replied with a nod.

Just as quickly as she had come, she left. Silabus sighed with relief as he watched the last traces of Atoli leave his sight. It wasn't that he disliked her or anything, but he really wanted to be alone to gather his thoughts. Lately, everything had been pointing back to Haseo in his mind. Why couldn't he get the black adept rouge out of his head?

"Silabus!!!!!!!" yelled a very excited Gaspard as he hobbled over to the booth. Gaspard's ears flopped around as he hobbled his way over through the thick crowd. It sure did seem to be a bit more crowed than normal, but Gaspard only concentrated on making it over to Silabus before he tripped over something.

Silabus smiled as Gaspard safely reached him. "Hey, Gaspard." He replied cheerfully to his beast like friend. "How did it go with your friend?"

"It went great! I found some more items that we can sell too. Look!" Gaspard replied with a smile as he laid out some items on the booth. Most of the items consisted of healing potions and scrolls.

"That's great Gaspard. Our inventory was starting to run a bit low." He replied as he pointed to back that held only a few items left.

"Woah! You sold almost everything that fast?" Gaspard questioned in awe. Only twenty minutes ago the back had been piled up with a bunch of stuff that Haseo gave to them to sell off.

"I guess I did." He replied as he also looked at the back himself. "But there sure are a lot of people here today. I wonder what is going on."

"The first match in the tournament will start in two days. I bet everyone is stocking up on weapons and potions for the occasion." Gaspard replied with glee. "I can't wait to see Haseo fight. It's going to be awesome."

Silabus nearly frowned at hearing Haseo's name, but caught himself in time. He put on his best smile that he could gather at the moment and nodded in agreement with Gaspard. Whether Silabus knew it or not, Gaspard had caught him nearly frowning. As Gaspard was just about to voice his question on it, a customer came up to the booth requesting to purchase some scrolls.

"I'll be right with you." Gaspard called to the player. He quickly turned to Silabus and smiled. "You can go do something now, Silabus. I'll handle the booth. Thank you for covering for me." He replied as he quickly ushered Silabus out of the booth. Gaspard would have to question Silabus later on the subject when they were alone.

Silabus was a bit taken aback by Gaspard's sudden push out of the booth. "Okay. No problem the pleasure was all mine." He managed to get out before he was lost in a crowd of people. Now was the perfect opportunity for him to gather his thoughts. He calmly walked past most of the other guild shops until one caught is attention. There were plants that were being put on display. Before he knew it, he had already approached the booth to take a closer look at the plants. He crouched down till his face was leveled with one of the plants. He took a hold of one of the leaves to look at.

"Hey! I see you have taken an interest in these plants here!" boomed a loud voice above Silabus's head. He backed away in surprise and stood up straight to see who was talking to him. This player had long green hair that went to their waist in ponytail. He wore similar clothing to what Silabus wore but only in the color of maroon.

"Oh, yes. I was just looking." Silabus replied with a nod as he didn't want to lead the player into thinking that he was going to pay for it. Said player looked to the left and then to right before scurrying right next to Silabus.

"You can take it for free. No one seems interesting in it and frankly I don't like it." The player whispered in his ear before grabbing the plant and handing to Silabus. The player began to look over his shoulder before pushing Silabus along.

Silabus was a bit shocked at his luck as he got lost in the crowd holding a plant. He wondered where he should put it though. "Hmmm….The guild could always use a plant." He replied cheerfully to himself as he bounded to the guild. He had always wanted to try out one of these plants before, but he had never thought of where he could put it though. He looked through the crowd hoping to find a warp platform so he didn't have to go through a long walk to the guild. He was in luck as he spotted one not to far away. The only probably was getting through the crowd with a plant in his arms.

"Excuse me." Silabus replied for the tenth time as he squeezed his way between two people as he finally reached the warping platform. He stood next to it and selected the warp closest to the guild. He sighed as blue beams of light surrounded him and warped him to his next destination. He was glad that there weren't many people in this area.

He quickly approached two large doors and opened them to enter Canard. He took in the view of the guild for a quick moment. He still couldn't get over how much nicer it looked like compared to the older one. Death Grunty appeared to be sitting on the red cushioned bench with its arms crossed deep in thought. 'That's odd. Death Grunty doesn't normally do that.' Silabus thought as he walked up the two flights of steps and set the plant down by the railing. He wasn't sure where to place it for the moment so this spot would be okay till he could find a suitable one. He kneeled by the plant and inspected it. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary with the plant, but Silabus had his suspicions. After all, it was rare to get something free from someone who was not it your party.

After five minutes of searching for any defects or anything of the like, Silabus gave up. He couldn't find anything that was wrong it at all. Just as he turns around, Death Grunty is right beside him peering at the plant. Silabus gave Death Grunty an odd look as it nearly had given him a heart attack. Death Grunty didn't seem to notice though as it continued to peer at the plant with curiosity. Now Silabus knew that something was definitely wrong. He watched as Death Grunty poked at one of the leaves and turned around with its arms crossed.

"I don't like it. Get rid of it. Oink." Death Grunty grumbled as it walked down the stairs to its red cushioned bench.

Even though Death Grunty looked like Haseo and acted like Haseo, it still made Silabus wonder what was really going on. He had heard and read in my forums that the guild grunties tended to act exactly like the guild master, but Death Grunty hadn't been around Haseo that long. Or…at least that is what he thought. Silabus stood up and walked down the stairs to stand in front of Death Grunty. He really wanted to question the grunty about it, but he figured it had something to do with Haseo and not the grunty.

He took a seat next Death Grunty, before fishing for his manual at his desk. He knew it had to be somewhere where. Ah! He had now just remembered that he had placed it in the bottom drawer of his desk. He quickly pulled the book out and began flipping through the pages. He had wanted to look up the plant in the manual and see what he had to do for it. While he was doing so he had left his character to just sit while staring ahead at the front door. Death Grunty took the opportunity to wiggle his way onto Silabus's lap and get himself comfortable.

Once Silabus was done reading, he placed the manual back in its right place and turned his attention to the screen. He was surprised when he found Death Grunty in his lap. Not only that, but Death Grunty appeared to be asleep. Silabus peered at the sleeping grunty and placed a hand on its head. He had to admit that Death Grunty looked cute, though. Now he didn't have the heart to wake the grunty up like he had planned to. After all, it has rare to even touch Death Grunty let alone hug with him. 'Just like Haseo.' Silabus thought with smile.

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Miralover: Woot! The next chapter should be up soon so stay tuned. 


	2. Strange happenings

Miralover: Hey everyone! 8D I haven't died yet. Hopefully I can get the next chapter up before I leave to go home. I apologize for any OCness (definitely on Haseo).

Disclaimer: I don't own .Hack//G.U.

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Silabus hummed to himself as he walked into the guild. He spotted Death Grunty in its usual spot. Although, Death Grunty was giving him this funny look that he couldn't really describe. It was staring intensely at him with a light blush on its cheeks, but he thought he was imagining things. Death Grunty blushing? It didn't seem possible.

"Morning, Death Grunty." Silabus greeted with a small wave and smile. He saw the grunty wave its little arm in a greeting before shaking its head and crossing its arms with a huff. Now this was interesting….Was it a glitch? Yeah, maybe it was just glitch. Silabus just tried to reassure himself that it was just a glitch and that it would be fixed soon. His main objective for coming to the guild in the first place was to check up on his plant. He quickly walked up the stairs and kneeled by his plant. After reading the manual he figured out that this type of plant was a mood plant. The way it works is that either you 'talk to the plant' everyday or do a mini game of watering the plant. After much thought, Silabus decided the option of talking to the plant. He grasped one of the leaves with his right hand and waited for the menu to pop up on his screen.

He didn't have to wait long as the menu screen popped up without a moments hesitation. Before he did anything though, he got a short mail. It was from his plant! Silabus blinked in shock before reading the message he got from his plant.

_Hiya Silabus! How are you doing? Is it okay if call you Daddy? After all you seem to be taking care of me. Anyway, I was just really testing this to make sure that I sent it to the right person. _

'Woah…' Silabus thought as he peered at the plant in curiosity. How was it able to short message him? This was not in the manual. He couldn't even send a reply to the plant even if he wanted to by short mail. He opened up the word pad the allowed him to write to the plant.

_Hello plant. I got your message. How are you able to short message me? _

Silabus waited patiently for a replied. He wanted to know what was going on. Was this plant glitched or something? Why was he questioning if things were glitched lately as well? He shook his head as a million other thoughts entered into his head.

_Hey, Daddy. The Holy Palace tournament should be starting soon. You don't want to miss it. Tell me how it goes. _

He wanted to question the plant further, but it was right. He was going to miss the tournament if he kept kneeling in the guild. After all, Gaspard was waiting for him. He quickly exited out off the menu and quickly stood up. He ran out of the guild in a rush to meet with Gaspard. After a few struggling moments of getting through the large crowd that had formed in Lumina Cloth, Silabus finally ran into an impatient looking Gaspard.

"Silabus, there you are. What took you so long? Now we are going to have a hard time finding good seats." Gaspard whined.

"Sorry, Gaspard. I lost track of time." Silabus apologized.

"It's okay. I already found seats." Gaspard replied as he flashed a smile.

"Oh, Gaspard. You tricked me." Silabus replied with a laugh.

"Let's hurry. The match is going to start any second now." Gaspard replied with excitement. Without waiting for Silabus, Gaspard ran ahead to their seats.

"H-Hey! Wait for me, Gaspard." Silabus called out as he ran to catch up to Gaspard.

Silabus reached the seats panting for breath. Gaspard sure could run fast for his small size. He quickly looked around to see that the entire arena was filled with other players in their seats waiting for the upcoming battle. Silabus began to feel nervous. 'Were there this many players when I was in the tournament?' he thought. He couldn't believe how packed it was. Of course, with all the rumors flying around about Haseo joining in this tournament he was sure that more people had come to see if the adept rouge would win and take the title as emperor again. Before he could think any further, Haseo and his team showed up on the screen.

"Hey look! There's Haseo!" Gaspard declared with glee.

Silabus looked at Gaspard to see his cheer. He noticed that Gaspard was just bouncing in his place pumping fists in the air. Silabus just smiled and laughed at him. He looked back to see that Haseo, Atoli and Alkaid were already in their fighting stances. He was astonished at how Haseo dashed toward the opposing players on the other side once the announcer said "Go!" He watched in excitement as Haseo hacked away at the other players with no effort at all. The battle was over in only a matter of minutes.

"Yeah! Go Haseo!" Gaspard cheered loudly while jumping up and down.

"Wow, Gaspard. You are really excited." Silabus commented as he turned to face his small beast friend. Gaspard stopped in his jumping and turn to face Silabus with a serious look.

"You know Silabus….You don't seem that excited that Haseo won the match. Are you jealous that you didn't get to be up there?" Gaspard questioned as he looked at Silabus straight in the eye with his hands on his hips.

"What? That's not it at all, Gaspard." Silabus replied as he scratched the back of his head in nervousness. Before Gaspard could counter Silabus's claim, a man with a mask and blonde hair approached both of them with a thoughtful look on his face. His black kimono swayed as he took a step toward them.

"Hey, it's Antares. What are you doing here?" Gaspard asked with curiosity. Silabus turned around to only to see what Gaspard said was true.

"I have a favor to ask of you both, but you better keep this secret." Antares started as he looked at the both of them with high regard. "I want you two to go on a quest with Haseo. The quest is going to help him get his next job extension, but he's going to need your help to get it."

"Okay. What do we have to do?" Silabus replied as he looked down at Gaspard that somehow managed to get in front of him. "Gaspard, when did you get there?"

"Heeheee. I got here while Antares was explaining the mission to us." Gaspard replied with excitement. He had squeezed past Silabus without even bumping into him.

Antares coughed to bring their eyes back on him. "As I was saying before I got interrupted-", Gaspard smiled sheepishly and stared at Antares, "I need you two to open the treasure chest at the beast statue with Haseo. If you guys don't he will have to do the quest over till he gets it right. Well, I better get going." Anteres began to walk away but before he was out of ear shot he replied, "Don't tell Haseo that I told you."

Silabus watched with awe as Antares blended in with the crowd of players and out of his sight. He looked down at Gaspard to see his eyes shimmering with glee and mischief. He looked like he was in a faraway dream land. He could only guess what it could entail for Haseo. He smiled and tapped Gaspard out of his day dream and possible plotting.

"Let's go, Gaspard. We could discuss this in the guild." Silabus suggested as he noticed eyes on him and Gaspard as they were the only ones who hadn't made a move to leave the arena yet.

"Okay!" Gaspard giggled with glee as he began to push his way into the crowd. Silabus shook his head with a smile a followed after Gaspard. He was surprised that most people hadn't even got out yet….Something must be holding them up. He stood as tall as he could to see over player's heads. What he found was that a fight had broken out in the way of the exit. He couldn't tell what the fight was about because he too far away from ear shot, but he noticed the annoyed faces of other players who were also blocked from escaping.

"How troublesome…" Silabus heard someone say from behind him. He turned around to come face-to-face with orange sunglasses that adorned the face of the one who talked. As Silabus got a better look at this player he noticed the case around the player's arm with a lock on it. He idly wondered what it was for before the blue-hair player spoke to him.

"There is another way out. Over there." The player said as he pointed off toward the right where an opening stood with no one going toward it. Silabus nodded as he saw the place. He turned around to thank the player, but the player had already vanished. _'_How odd…' Silabus thought as questions began to pop into his head. He sighed as he set aside those questions in the back of his mind to go over later. Right now he and Gaspard could get out of here with no difficulties.

"Hey, Gaspard…?" Silabus said as he turned around to find that Gaspard was no where to be found. Silabus stared at the now empty arena. The silence in the area gave Silabus the creeps. "Hello?" he called out as he only heard his echo in response. He nervously walked up the stairs and stood in front of the exit. He turned around to get one last look of the deserted arena. He shuddered as he walked out and into the main street of Lumina Cloth.

He decided to go to the guild and hoped that Gaspard was already there. He didn't know what was going on at all. He approached the Gate and warped to Dol Dona without any hesitation. His eyes widened a bit as he was greeted by no one. There were no players walking around, but he reassured himself that most players like to be at the shops. He approached the large wooden doors and opened it. He gasped as he saw no one at all. There were no players at their guild shops or even NPCs at their respective shops. A strong gust of wind blew through the market area only to be greeted by silence.

Silabus was having a hard time trying to mask the fear that now settled into the pit of his stomach. Where was everyone? Granted there were multiple servers that players could be in, but there were at least a few of them walking around in every server. So why wasn't anything here?

_Silabus…_

"Who's there?" Silabus called out as he looked around himself only to see no one around. He slowly and cautiously took a step forward while looking around to see if anyone would show up. He only felt his fear grow as another gust of wind blew against him.

_Sila_…._are….ou…kay..?_

Silabus spun around but saw no one. He didn't like this. "Gaspard?" he called out in a shaky voice. He took a couple steps back before bumping into something. "Oops. Sorry." He replied as he turned around to find the counter of the quest shop.

_Ca…ou…re…me….Si…s…?_

Silabus jumped as he felt hands on his shoulders. He was spun around only to face a silver-haired rouge who looked pissed off. The rouge in question had red eyes that seemed to glow with anger. The black and red armor only seem to glimmer as the light hit it. 'Haseo?' Silabus questioned to himself.

"Silabus, answer me damn it!" Haseo yelled.

"Huh?" Silabus replied dumb founded. He wasn't sure what to say at the moment as a flood of questions threatened to spill. All he knew right know was that he wasn't alone in this deserted server. He knew he should be happy, but Haseo's expression and comment hadn't made him feel at ease.

"I've been calling your name for a while now." Haseo replied. "Gaspard is freaking out right now and is close to tears. I don't know what's going on but I want an explanation."

"What!? Where is Gaspard? I lost sight of him in Lumina Cloth." Silabus explained while trying to mask the worry and fear in his voice. Haseo looked at Silabus with a questioning glance that Silabus only returned.

"What do you mean by 'where is Gaspard'? He's right next to you." Haseo pointed to the right of Silabus. Silabus only turned to look in the direction he was pointing. He didn't see anything.

"Um, Haseo. Gaspard isn't there." Silabus replied as calmly as possible. "If he is there then I can't see him." He had decided to add that note if it was the case.

"What about Kuhn and Atoli then?" Haseo questioned with his arms crossed. Haseo was beginning to have some suspicions on this whole matter.

"Kuhn and Atoli are here too?" Silabus questioned as he looked around but found no one at all.

"Okay….Who can you see then?" Haseo asked with a sigh.

"Just you." Silabus stated with a nod. "I could be having computer problems." He commented. These short questions and answers weren't making him feel any better. The silence around them was giving him the creeps. His hands began to shake and he began to look over his shoulder to see if anyone was around.

"Hey, Silabus. Are you okay?" Haseo asked with a hint of worry in his voice. He had noticed right away that Silabus had looked uneasy to begin with, but what if he had only scared him further? Without thinking, Haseo grabbed Silabus by the hand and began to walk to a warp gate. Silabus never got to reply as he got grabbed and dragged.

"Where are we going?" Silabus questioned as they stopped in front of the gate.

"The guild." Haseo stated and warped both of them there without another word. Haseo approached the double doors and opened them. He walked inside while still dragging Silabus behind him. Silabus gave Haseo a questioning glance as Haseo gave out a snort and make a kicking motion over the bench that Death Grunty would normally be sitting on.

"Stupid little-" Haseo grumbled before under his breath while letting go of Silabus.

"Haseo?" Silabus questioned. He wanted to ask the rouge so many questions while forgetting his current situation. He took a seat on the bench while trying to hide a small sigh that escaped his lips. "Do you think everything would be fixed if I restarted my computer?" he fidgeted a bit in nervousness and fear with his head looking down.

What if it didn't fix itself when he restarted? What then? How would he able to play the world if he couldn't see anything? What if he couldn't talk to anyone ever again? Silabus closed his eyes tightly at the thought. Before he could think more he felt warm arms wrap around him. He snapped his eyes open and looked up only to get a face full of chest as he got squeezed into an embrace.

"Everything will be fine. Don't worry about it so much." Haseo replied. Silabus nodded into his chest. He relaxed in Haseo's embrace right before Haseo let go of him. He almost wished that it hadn't ended though. Who knew when Haseo would display that action again?

"Silabus!!" shouted an exasperated Gaspard as the sounds of a door closing were heard. Both Silabus and Haseo turned around to see Gaspard stomp toward them. Kuhn and Atoli followed the little guy with looks of hesitation on their faces.

"I tried to calm him down, but it only seemed to make matters worse." Kuhn replied with a sigh as his long blue hair that was up in ponytail swayed with each step that he took.

"That's okay, Kuhn." Silabus replied with a smile. Gaspard and Atoli looked at him with shocked faces.

"You're okay now? How did you fix the problem?" Kuhn replied curiously. Silabus gave him a thoughtful look before coming up with his answer.

"Yup. I can see everyone just fine now. Haseo helped me with the problem." Silabus replied with a sweet smile. He knew he didn't answer Kuhn's question, but how could he answer it if he didn't even know the answer himself?

"Then you can see me?" Gaspard questioned. The angry face that he had put on earlier was now gone and was replaced with relief.

"Yup. I'm sorry about earlier Gaspard, but I really couldn't see you." Silabus replied as he stood up from the bench.

"That's okay." Gaspard replied as a smile appeared on his face. He gave off a giggle and hugged Silabus. "I'm just glad that you are doing okay."

"Well, we better get going…" Haseo replied as he walked over to Kuhn and Atoli. Silabus and Gaspard looked at the three and nodded.

"Don't hesitate to pay us a visit." Silabus replied with his infamous smile as he watched them leave the guild. Silabus looked at Gaspard who had long ago let go of him. He took a seat on the bench and sighed. "So how exactly are we going to get Haseo to bring us along on that quest?" he questioned.

"I have the prefect plan! Lean closer so death grunty doesn't hear." Gaspard replied with much excitement. Silabus leaned closer as Gaspard whispered his schemes to him who would nod occasionally to ideas that he liked. It seems like hours before they came up with an agreed plan. Silabus bid Gaspard farewell as he checked his plant before logging out. His last thought as he logged out was the idea of taking a late night jog.

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Miralover: Woot! I finally got this chapter done. It wasn't what I was hoping for, but I hope you guys like it. Comment please. 


	3. Help unwanted

Miralover: I'm on a roll it seems. I apologize for taking so long in submitting this. I had a goal set in mind, but tests can up so it ended up taking longer than I thought.

Disclaimer: I don't own .Hack/G.U. (It would be cool if I did though.)

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Silabus hummed to himself as he went to meet Gaspard in front of the quest shop. He had sent Haseo an email about the job extension and telling him to meet them at the quest shop. He wondered if he and Gaspard could stick to the plan that they had come up the night before. Before he could wonder more on that thought, he was greeted by a very excited Gaspard. Gaspard was hopping up and down while waving his hands to get Silabus's attention. Silabus only laughed when he got to Gaspard.

"I can see you just fine Gaspard." He managed to get out before bursting into another fit of laughter.

"I can't help it." Gaspard whined. "I want Haseo to hurry up and get here so we can go. I can't wait to see the look on his face at the end." Silabus silently nodded in agreement with him. He couldn't wait to see Haseo.

"Look! Here he comes. Act natural Silabus." Gaspard exclaimed as he started jumping up and down. Silabus just laughed at Gaspard and turned around to see that Haseo was headed in their direction.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting." Haseo replied when he reached them. "I would have been here sooner-"

"It's okay. I only got here a minute ago myself." Silabus interrupted with a smile. He could tell that Gaspard was growing impatient but was trying his hardest not to show it. It seemed that Haseo probably noticed too since he was suddenly added into his party.

"Well, let's get this started." Haseo replied as he approached the counter of the quest shop. Silabus had caught the sigh in his voice when he had said that. He sent a worried glance at Gaspard who also looked at Haseo with a curious look. It seemed that something might be bothering their leader and they haven't even started the quest yet. Silabus wondered what could be on the rogue's mind. He never seemed to tell him or Gaspard anything. He wondered why he always kept things to himself. He was sure that it wasn't good for his health.

"Sounds like we just need to get to the beast's statue." Haseo replied with arms crossed and a thoughtful look on his face. Silabus had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed the NPC giving its explanation of the quest. It was too late to go back and see what was said by the NPC so he silently nodded in agreement.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Gaspard replied with glee. Silabus silently hoped that he wasn't giving their secret away. After all Gaspard was not usually this happy and impatient to do things. Hopefully Haseo wouldn't notice the difference in Gaspard's behavior just yet. Silabus silently cheered to himself as Haseo didn't seem to notice the difference or just didn't seem to care.

**(Theta) Burning/ Fallen/ Seven Sins**

Well here they were in a dungeon with just the three of them. Silabus didn't really seem to mind the silence that followed when they had first appeared in the area. He was actually quite grateful for it since he had quite a few things to think about himself. All silence gets broken pretty easily however when Gaspard got within view of a group of monsters. They were easily caught and prepared for battle. Silabus drew out his weapon and attacked the first monster that was in his sight. He hadn't been out training as often as he wished he had so his level was very low for this area. Not to mention that he need a weapon upgrade.

"Ol Repth!" Gaspard shouted as Silabus was healed from taking serious damage from the monster.

"Thanks, Gaspard." Silabus gasped out as he charged at the closest monster toward him. He hacked away at the beast till it turned gray and vanished. He looked around to see if there were anymore beasts to beat, but found that none were left. Haseo already looked eager to press forward as he held his weapons at his side. Silabus looked to Gaspard, who had fallen behind, run up to them with a bright smile on his face.

"Lets keep going." Haseo grumbled as he charged forward into the dungeon. Silabus quickly followed behind. They had ran through a bunch of monsters on there way and easily make there way through. They went down to next floor no problem. It was just a bit awkward with silence all they way there though. They were all friends after all. There be so much silence between them. They had known each other long enough to have a long and in depth conversation on many things. He was sure of it. So why was their leader not saying anything at all? He couldn't help but stare at the back of their leader. He seemed to be in a bit of fowl mood by the hard steps he was making. After a moment of staring, the gaze of Haseo's met his. Silabus quickly looked elsewhere when he had been caught staring. He heard a faint cough emerge from Gaspard who had a large grin plastered on his face. He could already sense that Gaspard had something that he wanted to say. He silently waited to see what Gaspard had in store.

"Hey, remember the time when we first went into a dungeon with Haseo?" Gaspard brought up. Silabus actually remembered that very well. That was day where everything changed. The world became even more interesting than it was after they ran into Haseo.

"Of course. At the time would have believed that Haseo was the "Terror of Death"?" Silabus replied with a giggle. He remembered not believing a word that Haseo said when they had taken him to beginning dungeon. He hadn't convinced them at all when he didn't remember some of the basics either. Silabus nearly bumped into Haseo as his abrupt stop. Gaspard and him both stopped talking and the smiles on their faces dropped. Haseo's back was shaking just a bit much. Was he crying? No. They didn't think it was at all. They slowly watched as he turned around and a sent a glare that could have sent chills down their spine. Gaspard took a small step closer to Silabus and took a grasp on his shirt.

Silabus wasn't surprised at the react that Haseo at all. He figured that Haseo was going to burst his emotions sometime or another with them. He knew that bottling up emotions could lead to something like this. He took a small gulp and placed a smile on his face. He tried not to show his discomfort as he readied himself to ask the dreaded question.

"Are you okay Haseo?" he asked was he delicately kept the smile on his face. He saw Haseo's face turn a dark shade of red and balled up fists at his sides.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm not here to have fun and games. If want to stay and reminisce about the past then fine. Stay here. I'm going on my own." Haseo spat out as he ran off. Silabus frowned as he stared at Haseo's retreating back.

"I wish that you would rely others and not just on yourself." Silabus whispered to himself. Gaspard turned to face Silabus with sadness in his eyes. Silabus could see the tears that were threatening to spill from Gaspard eyes. He kneeled in front of Gaspard and gave him a small smile. He placed a hand on his hand and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry about him, Gaspard. I'm sure that he will come back soon enough." Silabus quietly replied while trying not to show the hurt in his voice. He just hoped that Haseo didn't open the chest without them though. Then they would have to do that whole quest again, but it wasn't there place to reveal what he would do wrong.

"I hope so." Gaspard replied with a sniffle. Silabus continued to ruffle his hair and soon a smile appeared on Gaspard's face. Silabus managed to laugh and stood up straight. He was glad that he had managed to get Gaspard's spirit up again. He decided that he should change the subject and wait it out for Haseo to come back.

"Remember how we nearly got PKed, but that player with the pink hair and glasses came to our rescue at the last minute. That's when we learned that Haseo was really the Terror of Death." Silabus replied with a smile. He received a nod from Gaspard. As he opened his mouth to tell Gaspard more, he noticed something black and red out of the corner of his eye. He glanced up to get a better look only to see Haseo. He appeared to have a guilty look on his face.

"I….I didn't mean what I said. There aren't any monsters up ahead so…..I was wondering if you wanted to come with me." He uttered out. Silabus knew that Haseo hadn't really meant what he said. He looked to Gaspard with a knowing smile.

"Haseo!" they both yelled out as they leaped toward him with a crushing hug. Silabus laughed as they landed on him. The look on his face was just too funny as he had tried to back away.

"Okay! Okay! Get off me already." Haseo replied in a muffled voice. Silabus scrambled off of Haseo and offered him a hand up. Haseo surprising took the offer and pulled himself up. Silabus gave a warm smiled and looked a Gaspard who had a curious glint in his eyes. Silabus cocked an eyebrow in confusion as he tried to figure out what as was going on in Gaspard's mind. He didn't have much time to think though as Haseo started walk off ahead without them.

"Hey, wait for us!" Silabus called out as he ran after their leader. They reached the beast statue in no time. Haseo had been right when he said that there had been no more monsters lurking about. Silabus was glad and disappointed at the same time. He needed to level up as he noticed that he had steadily begun to be weaker than Haseo and Gaspard. They approach the treasure chest sitting in front of the statue. Just as Haseo reached to open it, Silabus grasps him arm. He looked over at Haseo to see the questioning look that was thrown his way.

"Lets open this up together." Silabus replied with a huge smile. He released his hold on Haseo and placed his hand on the latch of the chest. Gaspard's and lastly Haseo's hand joined in and they all opened the chest. A bright light filled all of their screens and quickly vanished. As voice began to speak, but Silabus was too distracted by watching Haseo's face. The rouge had a smirk on his lips. Said rouge turned and asked them a question.

"How did you guys know that if we didn't open the chest together that I wouldn't have gotten the job extension?" he asked. Silabus was quickly trying to come up with an excuse for that and turned to look at Gaspard.

"Well you see Antares gave us a tip-" Gaspard quickly replied but covered his mouth in surprise at what he had just revealed.

"Gaspard! We promised not to tell." Silabus scolded. He knew Gaspard was going to reveal it sooner or later. At least it was after they finished the quest. He really was angry at Gaspard in telling at all. He just wasn't certain on what Antares had in store for them. Haseo only seemed to laugh at them though. Silabus shrugged with a smile.

"Lets head back to the Quest shop." Haseo replied with nodded and head to warp point. Silabus quickly followed after Haseo with Gaspard trailing right behind him.

Silabus gave a large sigh as they were warped back to Dol Dona. He was greeted by the bright shimmering sun and the crowds of people. He hurried after Haseo who rushed for the Quest shop that was right behind the large wooden doors. He silently watched as Haseo completed the quest. The world seemed to freeze for a moment before everything started moving again. Silabus blinked his eyes and turn to look at Haseo. Haseo looked different with the black armor that now adorned his entire body. Haseo himself seemed to nod in improvement at the change.

"Well, I need to get going now everyone. It was fun doing this quest though. Invite out anytime, Haseo." Gaspard replied as he was quickly removed from the party and bounded off toward the guild shop. Silabus waved a farewell to Gaspard and turned to look at Haseo who was no longer there. He blinked in surprise for a minute and noticed that he had been removed from the party at the same time that Gaspard had. He shrugged to himself and walked of toward the guild.

He was a bit bothered by the fact that Haseo had just left and hadn't said anything to him at all, but he wasn't going to let it get to him. After all, Haseo could have gotten an important email message or something. He continued to march his way through the crowd when he noticed a familiar face and stopped. It was Kuhn. Something was off about Kuhn though. He looked like he was down in the dumps with the way he walked. He was looking down and dragging his feet against the ground. Silabus frowned a bit and walked over to his friend.

"Hello Kuhn!" he called out and waved to the ex-Canard guild master. He noticed Kuhn look up and give him a smile. He joined the side of his friend and gave him a questioning look.

"Is something bothering you Kuhn?" he couldn't help but ask. Kuhn only shook his head, but Silabus clearly knew he was lying to him. He sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. He hated that knowing that no one wanted his help when he was so willing to offer it. He quickly willed those thoughts away and focused on Kuhn. He was thinking of a way to cheer him up.

"Do you want to go level up in an area with me and Gaspard? It will be fun. The three of us haven't had a chance to hang out in a while." Silabus suggested. He was sure that he could get Gaspard to come once he gave him the reasoning for it.

"Uh, sure. Why not." Kuhn replied with a steady nod. Silabus sent Gaspard a quick short message and hoped that he would respond quickly. He didn't have to wait long as Gaspard hobbled over to them.

"Hey, Kuhn! Silabus. Am I late?" Gaspard asked as he joined them. He looked at Kuhn and frowned slightly.

"Nope. Not at all." Silabus replied as he felt himself being added to the party. He stole a worried glance at Kuhn, but followed him as he began to walk over to the Chaos gate. Kuhn stood for a moment with a thoughtful look on his face before picking out some words.

" Theta Secret Mind's Surpassed." He had uttered out before they were warped to their next destination…

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Miralover: Yay! Next chapter will be posted up soon I promise. XD


	4. Unwanted Changes

Miralover: Yay

Miralover: Yay! Finally the change for Silabus happens.

Disclaimer: I don't own .Hack GU.

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Silabus quickly took noted of the dungeon that they warped into. It was evening and it almost seemed like there was a fog of light the obstructed his vision. He didn't mind this type of dungeon since it seemed like they would be walking though a large temple. He looked over at Kuhn who still seemed to be a bit slumped in his posture. He sighed and looked around for Gaspard who was looking at Kuhn was a sad face. He felt a short mail reach him and he opened it.

_Daddy, _

_Looks like we'll get to meet each other soon…._

_Plant_

Silabus looked at the message over and over. What did mean by meeting soon? Plants couldn't just warp into dungeons. It was unheard of. What did it mean? He turned his attention back to Kuhn who was still awfully quiet. Before Silabus could break the silence, Kuhn darted forward and into the dungeon with out another word. Silabus didn't feel any sense of ease as he ran after him with Gaspard tailing right behind. He had just a moment ago check he level in this area and he was nowhere near close to where he should be.

"Kuhn, please slow down." He tried yelling out a Kuhn who didn't seem to either hear or just didn't bother to take notice. Silabus just kept his mouth shut and followed without saying a word. It was clear that their leader was not going to saying at this point. It worried him though; usually Kuhn was never like this. He would at least say something. Somehow they had managed to avoid all of the monsters at this point. He thought it was miracle since he and Gaspard were far behind and Gaspard was known to trip and land them into a battle.

"Silabus, I don't know if I can keep up for much longer." Gaspard huffed and wheezed from behind. Silabus looked back for a moment to see that Gaspard was starting to fall behind. He looked forward to see Kuhn turn a corner and dash out of sight.

"Just hold on for a little longer. I lost sight of Kuhn." He yelled over his shoulder as his breath started to come out in short gasps. He turned the corner and saw the back of Kuhn dashing toward the opening of a large room. He dashed after him with the last remnants of his energy.

"Kuhn, wait up! Me and Gaspard can't keep up with you!" he yelled out as he reached the opening to the room. He stopped for a brief moment as he noticed that room was huge. It opened up in both directions for quite a ways. He looked forward and then to both side, but found no sign of Kuhn. He had lost him. He heard the huffs and puffs of Gaspard from behind him as the little guy caught up to him.

"I lost him. I hope he didn't go too far." He told Gaspard as he let him catch a breath. He found Kuhn's behavior to be strange. It just didn't seem like him to act like this at all. It made him question if he knew their leader as much as he thought he did. He sighed and looked over at Gaspard who seemed to catch enough air.

"I'm ready when you are Silabus." Gaspard replied with a nod. Silabus smiled at him and looked at there predicament. Should they go straight of follow one of the walls? If the followed the walls it would be slightly safer from running into monsters, but if they got caught they would be trapped by the walls. On the other hand, if they went through the middle they had more room to maneuver around but, the chance of running into a monster was higher. Silabus decided to take the risk of running through the middle after much thought.

"Let's go." he managed to get out as he sprinted straight down the middle. He wasn't sure how far Kuhn went, but hopefully had enough sense to stop once he figure out that they weren't there. He didn't have to run far when he spotted Kuhn standing in the middle of the room. He appeared to be looking at something, but he was too far away to see what it was. Once he reached Kuhn, he saw what it was….a black treasure chest. This was odd. None of the chest should be black at all. Maybe it was some type of a rare chest maybe.

"What's that?" Gaspard asked as he walked over to the chest and poked it. The chest wiggled a bit before settling itself down.

'Must be a trap chest.' Silabus thought as he rummaged through his list of items to see if he had something to debug it with. He looked over a Kuhn who had been staring at the chest with intense eyes. It seemed that he knew something that we did not. Before I could ask him on it, Gaspard did something that one should never do….He opened the chest. His heart of curiosity just couldn't take it anymore and he opened the chest with glowing eyes.

"Gaspard, No!" Silabus heard Kuhn yell out and dive toward the chest. Kuhn seemed to sparkle for a moment before a large force of wind struck them. Silabus held his arms up to cover his eyes as the wind hit at full force. He grounded his feet and hoped that he wouldn't get swept away. He heard the yell of Kuhn…or maybe it was Gaspard. He wasn't sure. He looked up just in time to see Kuhn go flying backwards and out of sight. He looked around for Gaspard in a panic and found him still standing way too close to the chest. Before he knew it, Gaspard also flew away with the wind.

"Kuhn! Gaspard!" he yelled out, but couldn't even hear himself over the high winds. He felt himself slowly move backwards by an inch. He wouldn't be able to hold on much longer at this rate. If he could just reach the chest and close it maybe the wind would stop. He inched further back and met with something soft. He turned his head around to spot the player he had seen earlier in tournament. His blue hair and orange glasses were a dead give away. Not to mention the thing that was on his arm.

"When did you get here?" he tried to yell out over the winds, but failed miserably at doing so. It appeared that the player had gotten the message though as he was given a smirk. The player brushed past him and walked over the chest with ease. Silabus was amazed at how he didn't seem affected by the winds. What he saw next was something he was not ready for. The player walked over to the chest and held out his free hand in the chest. A bright light resonated and suddenly the winds stopped all together. Silabus looked around in wonder to see that everything looked as if the whole episode had never taken place. He walked over to the player with a full load of questions in mind.

"What did you do?" he asked as he watched the player pull his hand out of the chest. There was a pink egg shaped item in his hand. It was almost like it was clear, because he could see a circle of black in center. This was something new, that he never seen before.

"Are you a friend of Haseo's?" the player asked him. Silabus just nodded. He wasn't sure why he needed to know the information in the first place. Before he could register what happened next, the player thrusted the pink egg into his torso. He screamed out as he felt a wave of pain wash over his body in an instant. He clutched his stomach in agony and felt his legs give way. He fell onto his back with sickening thud against the back of his head. He bit the bottom of his lip as he tried his best to conceal his pain. It was just too much for him. It kept coming in pluses. Each one was worse than the one before it.

Tears started to form and fall from his eyes. He hated this. What had he done to be put in this amount of pain? He couldn't hold back his screams much longer. He bursted into fits of sobbing and screaming. He just wanted the pain to go away. He wanted all of it to stop, but the one who caused this pain to him was just standing there and watching. He began to see black circles around him through his tears. He wasn't sure if it could be hallucination or not to get through the pain, but they were still there floating around and never staying in one spot for long. The pain soon began to subside till in vanished completely as if it had never been there in the first place.

He didn't bother to move or attempt to get up. He was exhausted from the pain and from screaming. The tears continued to pour in an uncontrollable fashion. The footsteps of his torturer were heard and soon he could his face hovering above his. A look of curiosity was placed on his face. He nodded almost as if in approval of something that only make Silabus question what was done it him. He tried to open his mouth and voice out the question of "why", but sound seemed to have escaped him. The player seemed to back up a bit and held onto the incasing around his arm. He seemed to be in a moment of pain as something flashed in his hand.

"Well, Haseo's friend, huh? My name is Ovan. It seems that I have a present for you right here." He said as held up a lock for Silabus to see. Silabus didn't want to know why he was given a lock in the first place. Before he could think more the lock was opened and placed through one of the belt loops on his chest. The lock closed with click and the black spots disappeared from Silabus vision. Ovan stood up and turned to leave.

"It was a pleasure meeting you….Daddy." he replied and walked off further into the dungeon. Silabus stared wide eyed at the sky. Daddy? That meant he was the plant that he had been talking to all this time! Before he could think more, he was alerted of a short mail. His eyes widen for a moment as he tried to open it. He couldn't feel the controllers in his hands anymore. His breath started to shorten and he too deep gasps for air. His felt fresh tears threaten to spill from his eyes. He couldn't help himself from panicking. How was he going to contact people? What if the short mail was important? He tried to calm himself down, but his fears and doubts were over powering him. What could one do to open up short mail?

"O-open…Short….m-mail.." he whimpered out. And the short mail opened with ease. He quickly scanned over the message.

_Silabus! Where are you? Kuhn is knocked unconscious right now and I can't figure out how to wake him up. I'm scared. I heard screaming earlier. Are you alright?_

_Gaspard _

Silabus pondered nervously on what could be done. He was too exhausted to move at this point, but Gaspard was fending for himself. He composed a new mail and quickly sent it Gaspard. He had told him to contact Haseo for help and that he hadn't moved from where the treasure chest was. He stared up at the sky as he waited for help to come. He felt so tired and drained from what had happened to him earlier. He felt his eyes begin to close on their own accord and soon he was in a light slumber.

"Sil….bus……Sil..a…bus…..SILABUS!" he heard as he woke up and opened his eyes. He was met with the sight of a frantic looking Haseo, a crying Gaspard, a worried Atoli, and a guilty looking Kuhn. He tried to sit up but, was stopped by the hands of Atoli and Haseo. He could feel their worrying glances. He probably looked like a wreck too.

"S-silabus, why didn't you say that you were h-hurt in the short mail I s-sent you?" Gaspard replied with a series of sniffles as he hobbled over and sat down. Silabus managed to produce a small smile as he thought of what to say. At the time he hadn't been thinking about himself. He had been more worried of Kuhn and Gaspard's state. Just as he opened his mouth to respond he got interrupted by Haseo.

"Kuhn, what the hell were you thinking when you took them here! Even an idiot would know that they are way under level for this place." Haseo spat out as he glared at Kuhn. Kuhn only seemed to look regretfully at the ground.

"Stop…..that's…enough.." Silabus managed to say in hoarse voice. He was pleased that he had diverted the attention as all eyes were on him, but he had a feeling that it was for the wrong reason. He could see worry and surprise wash over their faces for moment.

"Let's go back now, Silabus. I don't want to be here any more." Gaspard whined with a tear streaked face. Silabus nodded and tried to make a move to get up, but was scooped into the arms of Haseo. He looked up in surprise to meet Haseo's worried gaze. He leaned his head against his chest and felt content. He felt himself slowly be carried off to be brought back to Dol Dona.

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Miralover: Yay! Next chapter will be up soon. Stay tuned and review please.


	5. Unsettling Anwsers

Miralover: Took forever to finally post this chapter up. It's been sitting on my computer for ages and I finally finished it after having to replay the game many times. Sorry about taking forever guys.

Disclaimer: I don't own .Hack/G.U.

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The trip back to Dol Dona almost seemed to be a long and quiet one. Silabus however was too tired to want to deal with anything other than silence. However one glance up at Haseo's face told another story. It was obvious that the boy was still angry since the scowl and hardened gaze that was set forward was more than just a dead giveaway. Silabus frowned. He didn't want another fight between his two closest friends. It wasn't Khun's fault that this happened. It was just part of the game.

"Haseo, you can put me down now. I'm feeling much better." Silabus softly told the boy. His health bar showed that he was in good condition, yet he still felt a little tired. He brushed that thought aside when Haseo set him down. He smiled in gratitude and glanced over at Gaspard who was still giving him a worried look. He couldn't help but chuckle a little. It was times like this when Gaspard actually resembled a dog. His eyes were large and his hands were clutching the edge of his pants. He looked like he wanted to do something, but was afraid to do so.

"Haseo, thanks for saving me." Silabus quickly said with a bow. He quickly looked back up and glanced over to Khun, Atoli, and Gaspard. "I'm really sorry for making everyone worry about me, but I'm fine. I feel as good as new." He told them with his infamous smile on his face. He could tell that everyone started to feel more at ease after he had reassured them, since Gaspard came up and hugged him tightly. He couldn't help but laugh.

Silabus glanced back at the group with a gentle smile on his face.

"Well, I'm going to head over to the guild you guys. I'll probably be over there for a while, but feel free to send me short mail if you need something." He told everyone before gently prying Gaspard off of him. Gaspard could have held onto him all day if he let him.

"Hey, Silabus..." Haseo softly called out just as Silabus was about to run off towards the guild.

"Y-yes? Is there something you need?" He softly asked Haseo. The expression he wore on his face was a bit unreadable. Normally he was used to just seeing an angry expression on the adept rouge's face. For some reason he felt like he was being questioned. He didn't know why he got this feeling but it made him feel nervous.

"No, it's just...be more careful in the future." Haseo replied.

"O-oh. Yeah, I will." Silabus softly replied before running off towards Canard. He let out a sigh of relief. He had just felt some sort of tension in the air around Haseo. It seemed like he had wanted to say more to him but chose not to in the end. Once he reached the guild he felt a bit more at ease. However he stopped when he noticed Death grunty blocking his path. The NPC was staring and staring some more at his character. It was starting to make him feel unnerved.

"Can I help you?" Silabus softly asked the grunty.

"When did you get that lock? It looks hideous." The grunty replied and pointed towards Silabus's chest. Silabus gave him a questioning look before glancing down to see the lock that was attached to one of his belts. He frowned at the sight. Ovan had put that on him after putting that mysterious egg in him. Ovan...That was right! Ovan could talk to him through plant that he kept…or at least that what it seemed anyway. That was why he had headed to the guild in the first place.

"Just a while ago." Silabus replied before stepping around Death grunty and heading towards the plant. He took a seat and opened up the messenger option. Now that he had it open and before, his mind drew a blank on what he should type. Of course he had questions, but where did he even begin to start on asking them? Not to mention that, but the game was full of glitches on him now.

"Maybe I should just restart the game first. Doesn't make any sense to type this up and have it possibly get lost." He softly said to himself before hitting the log out option. As the large ball of light hovered and cascaded rings of light around him, he watched as the process cut short on. He stood amazed for a second as he was still in the game and not logged out. This couldn't be a glitch either could it? He took a deep breath and tried again, but the process cut short once more. By now, he was little shaken up, but he could just restart his computer and M2D.

He took in a deep breath to calm himself. He reached an arm out to feel for his computer..."W-what? Where is my computer?" He questioned as he tried to feel his surroundings. He tried to look out the corner of his M2D since it was designed to allow him to still see the real world, however he could not seem to find that at all. He felt his face and turned his head sharply to the left and right...no luck. He bit his bottom lip and felt around his head in hopes of finding his M2D so he could just pull it off but he just found that his fingers were going through his avatar's hair. His hands slowly left his hair and just fell on his lap.

"T-this is p-probably just another glitch. I'm probably not the only one experiencing this. Yeah, that has to be it." He muttered to himself. That was the only option he could think of to keep himself from panicking. It was probably safe to just message a few people to see if they had issues with logging out anyway. Without a second thought he opened up a short mail addressed to Haseo. He had about half the message typed out when he stopped. "What am I thinking? Haseo is busy...I don't want to bother him with something like this." He mumbled to himself before deleting the message. He should have known better than to message the adept rouge. After what had happened earlier he was sure that he would only invoke the adept rouge's worry. That was the last thing he wanted after all. He frowned and sent Gaspard a short mail instead. He sighed as it was sent and turned his attention back to the plant. Well, now was probably a good time to message Ovan since fixing his glitch was out of the question.

He brought the message function up and crossed his arms. He wanted to put a lot of thought into this message, but with the amount of questions he had it didn't seem like he could think of a good way to make his message make sense. "Oh, well. Here goes nothing." he softly sighed to himself before typing out his message to Ovan.

_'Dear Ovan,_

_I have a lot of questions for you and I hope that you can provide me with some answers. First of all, what was that egg like object you were holding? Why did you place that object into my avatar? What is the purpose of the lock on my avatar? Are you experiencing glitches within the game? I can't seem to log out and the even stranger thing is that...I don't think I can find the location of my body. I know it sounds weird and everything, but I think it may be related as to why I can't log out. I know I could log out before but...did that egg you put in my avatar have something to do with it? I don't trust you after the pain you inflicted with me with, but I also want answers. _

_-Silabus'_

Silabus took one last glance at his message before sending it on its way. He didn't even have to wait a minute before he saw a flashing notification that he had received a message back. He quickly opened it up and pouted. It read: '(Theta) Hidden/Forbidden/Battlefield'. Well, it seemed that Ovan was not much of a message writer.

"Theta Hidden Forbidden Battlefield, huh. Well, better head over there so I can get some answers." he softly mumbled before getting up from his position on the floor. He quickly turned and ran out of the door of the guild. He was re-energized with anticipation for this meeting. He didn't know why but he had a feeling that this meeting was going to give him all the answers he sot and soon his gaming experience would be back to normal. He couldn't help but have a big smile on his face as he headed to the warp platform not far from the entrance of the guild. He teleported to the entrance of Dol Dona and headed toward the chaos gate. He was about to put the key words in when he received a short message from Gaspard. He quickly opened it.

_'Hey Silabus,_

_I can log out just fine. Maybe you should just unplug your M2D or take it off if you are experiencing difficulties. I could always ask some of the guys around if you would like. I have a few friends who are really knowledgeable about computers and stuff. Sorry I can't be that much of help._

_-Gaspard'_

'Typical Gaspard.' he thought to himself with a light smile. He would message Gaspard later. He focused his attention back towards the chaos gate. "Theta Hidden Forbidden Battlefield. " he softly called out before a bright light appeared above before cascading it's rings of light around him and warped him to the location.

**(Theta) Hidden/ Forbidden / Battlefield**

Silabus was taken aback by the scene that befell his eyes when he entered the area. The most notable thing that stuck out to him was that it was night in the area. The other thing that caught his attention was the large stone floating in the sky that was shaped like a monster he had fought many times while trying to level up. He looked around as he walked down the few flights of steps that headed downward. Across the stone bridge with railings that were falling apart, he found Ovan standing in the center of five stone pillars. Each pillar seemed to give off their own different colored light, however where Ovan stood also seemed to be emanating a red glow. The man had his back to him, but the moment Silabus made it halfway across the bridge Ovan turned around and looked at him.

"Good, you came alone." Ovan softly said in a light manner. Silabus didn't say anything in response to his statement till he reached Ovan. He stood a few feet away from the man since he was still highly suspicious of his intentions.

"Of course I came alone. It's not like I can ask or tell anyone else about this. Besides, I'm sure that you were the main cause of it anyway." Silabus replied with huff and crossed his arms. He had really wanted to tell Gaspard and Haseo about his problems, but he didn't want to burden either one of them. Besides, he felt like they were all slowly becoming distant.

"Ah, yes. Your questions. I will answer any questions you have under one condition. You have to listen to my request." Ovan replied with a smirk on his face. Silabus scowled and should have known that something like this was going to happen. He didn't have much of a choice though. He just wanted to be able to fix this problem he was having and if it meant that he had to potentially do something for Ovan in return, then he wouldn't mind.

"Alright. I'll listen to your request, but I want my questions answered first." Silabus replied as he watched Ovan's expression change to a more serious one. Well, now that he had the man's full attention he didn't hesitate on quickly shooting out questions. "So what exactly did you do to me? What was that egg thing? Why can't I log out now? Actually I can't seem to find my real body either. Why is that?" he demanded.

"The answer to your questions all lay with one single source. The source is called AIDA. Think of it as a virus that has infiltrated 'The World' and it is something that even the administrators can't get rid of since many of them can't even see it. The 'egg thing' as you put it was...is AIDA. Once AIDA was implanted into your avatar, you became infected. You are infected by this 'virus' and the result of that is you can not log out. You have no connection with your body either, so something has probably happened to your body in the real world." Ovan replied with a matter-of-fact tone in his voice. Silabus only felt himself feel a little frustrated with this explanation. There was only one new piece of information that he had managed to get out of Ovan. Otherwise, the man had just summarized the questions and made them into statements.

"Okay...so if you knew that AIDA was a virus, then why did you infect me?" he asked the steam gunner. He wondered what Ovan was thinking, just placing viruses in other people's avatars. Wait, was he one of people who took pleasure in spreading virus's just for the fun it? His hand balled into fist just at the thought of that. He wouldn't forgive Ovan for taking enjoyment out of ruining other people's gaming experience.

"That ties in with my request. I'm in need of a bodyguard." Ovan replied. Silabus scowled at the sound of this request. He had noticed that Ovan was quick to change the subject to his request without giving out a lot of information.

"And why would you need me as your bodyguard? There are plenty of other players...much stronger players that would be better suited for the job. And how does your sudden request drive you to put a virus in my avatar?" Silabus spat out. He wasn't sure if he wanted to stay any more to hear what the man had to say. It was obvious that the man was not going to give him the information he wanted, or perhaps Ovan truly didn't know. However, he was certain that Ovan wasn't telling him everything.

"Well, what I need protection from is not something that any ordinary player can take care of. If they were infected by AIDA, then they would stand a chance. However, most that come in contact with AIDA start to lose their minds and control of their power. They become obsessed with power and before long they crave for more and lose sight of themselves. So there is no way to get them to cooperate with me for long." Ovan replied. Silabus still didn't understand why it was him that was chosen out of millions of other characters.

"Wait...You said that once you get infected with AIDA you start to go crazy? And what kind of powers are you talking about? I haven't changed at all besides the fact that I can't log out." he questioned Ovan. He was horrified at the thought. Was he going to lose sight of himself and succumb to being power hungry?

"You noticed the lock you have there? Unlock it." Ovan said as he pointed to the lock that was currently dangling off of one of the belts that went around Silabus's chest. Silabus looked down at the lock and slowly grasped the lock firmly in his hand. Didn't locks normally require keys to open them? Just how was he supposed to open it up without a key? He frowned and let go of the lock.

"Looks like you can not open it yet. I'll give you a hint on opening it up. Feelings." Ovan replied with a look of disapproval on his face.

"Feelings?" Silabus questioned the man.

"The stronger the feeling, the easier it is to unlock." Ovan replied. Silabus looked down at the lock in thought. So strong feelings are needed to open this lock? He didn't know if he wanted to unlock it now.

"Well, thanks for the hint, but I'm not interested. " Silabus replied as he gave Ovan a serious look. He was not going to unlock the virus that was within him. There was no benefit for him besides being used by the other man.

"Oh, but you are. Weren't you just asking about how to log out once more? The root cause of it all is the virus in you. As long as you have it you will not be able to log out. However, if you help me out then you may be able to find a way to get rid of AIDA in your avatar." Ovan replied. Silabus could have sworn the man had a twisted grin on his face, but the man's mouth was hidden from him by his large trench coat now.

"Wait….you don't know how to get rid of it? But you put it in me! How do you not know how to get rid of it!?" Silabus cried out. He didn't understand.

"Were you not listening earlier? If the administrators can't get rid of the virus, then how could I possibly do so? Infecting someone with AIDA is much easier than getting rid of it." Ovan replied. Silabus just felt his world shatter a little. Inside he had been hoping that this problem would get resolved without much of issue, but now….he was forced to play into someone else's hands just to fix this problem.

"Why? Tell me why….it had to be me. Why me?" Silabus cried out. Haseo….he wondered if he should just let the adapt rouge know what was going on. Maybe….just maybe Haseo could help him out. It would be better than being used.

"You're a friend of Haseo's." Ovan replied as a matter of fact. Silabus was a little taken aback by the answer. Was that it? Was that the only reason why he was picked? Then that meant anyone else could have been chosen but he was the unlucky one to be picked by chance?

"I thought about infecting that Tu Tribe that is always bumbling around. You know the pink one that is always hanging around you and Haseo as well." Ovan replied with smirk. Silabus's eyes widened in realization, Ovan was talking about Gaspard.

"No! Leave Gaspard out of this!" Silabus cried out. He wouldn't let Ovan infect Gaspard. Gaspard didn't do anything to deserve the same fate he had.

"Then you'll just have to agree to aide me or he'll be the next target." Ovan retorted with a satisfied look on his face. Silabus wasn't about to let Ovan infect Gaspard, but he didn't want to help the man either.

"Alright, I'll do, but you have to promise me that you won't harm Gaspard." Silabus hesitantly replied as he crossed his arms and scowled.

"Fair enough. Our matters are to be kept strictly between the two of us. Tell anyone and I'll guarantee that promise will be broken. That means no telling Haseo." Ovan replied with a grin. The man vanished as he warped out of the location before Silabus could get another word out. It only seemed like Ovan had staid to listen to what he wanted.  
"Well…I never thought that having the world be real….would make me feel this conflicted. I thought it would be wonderful but..." Silabus muttered to himself. He was interrupted from musing when a short mail popped up.

'_Silabus,_

_Hey! The semi-finals are gonna start soon. Where are you? You promised that you would get the seats for us this time. You better not have forgotten. I'll be super mad if you did!_

_Gaspard.'_

"Oh man! I forgot!" Silabus cried out as he quickly warped from the area to get seats for him and Gaspard. Any thoughts about Ovan and his plans let his mind as he focused on having fun with Gaspard.


End file.
